"Not yet. I may have need of you again."
"An invitation less hastily devised would please me better," said Ellery. "I am not rich enough to adventure such good garments as these often."
"A bullet would certainly have made less havoc with them, Captain
Ellerey," she returned.
The mention of his name startled him.
"A word of warning," she went on. "Beware of Monsieur De Froilette, and of any enterprise he may handle. There will be specious promises, but small fulfilment. Beware of the lady who visited the Altstrasse to-night. Hesitate to do her bidding. Unless I mistake not, you will thank me for the warning one day," and then, turning to the men about her, she said, "Unloose him."
They hesitated, and did not move.
"Unloose him, I say," and she stamped her foot sharply.
Two or three fell on their knees beside Ellerey and unfastened the cords, and, stretching his limbs to take some of the ache out of them, he rose to his feet.
"You are free," she said; "but for the safety of these men, you must consent to be blindfolded, and led to the place you came from."
"By the same lady who brought me here?" Ellerey inquired.